I was lucky to spend a week in Munich alongside other National Geographic Explorers, learning about how best to communicate science to the general public. We had a tight schedule packed with lectures, practical assignments and networking sessions, finishing with an Explorer Spotlight where we all gave short presentations about our research in front of the public and some Nat Geo people, with only three slides and no text at all – a first for me! I talked about the heart-breaking decline of puffins in Iceland.
Here are some links to the cool work done by our two main instructors, Welsh astrophycisist and educator Huw James and Spanish photographer Jaime Rojo.
I learned lots, but the best part was to meet other early-career explorers from all over the world studying all sort of fascinating topics, from large carnivore conservation, Manta ray ecology and the transmissio of songs in whales to the impact of human migration and the resilience of remote communities to climate change.
Annette Fayet 